Child Abuse Cases

Montgomery County, AL

Robert Doyle

1991

Robert Doyle was convicted of the sexual abuse of his two
young daughters. His conviction was later vacated due to the withholding of
exculpatory evidence. (FJDB)
(JD Blog) [12/09]

Pima County, AZ

Larry Youngblood

Oct 29, 1983

Larry Youngblood was convicted of abducting 10-year-old David
L. from a church carnival and repeatedly sodomizing him. David said
his assailant had a disfigured eye. Youngblood fit this description
and the traumatized child identified Youngblood in court as the perpetrator. Youngblood lived alone, had a history of mental illness, and had had
previous run-ins with the law.

Youngblood appealed his conviction because the state had
collected semen samples left by the assailant both in and on the victim, but
had failed to perform tests on the samples to determine the blood type of
assailant. It had also failed to refrigerate the samples so that tests
could be performed at a later date. Such tests might have completely
exonerated Youngblood. The Arizona Court of Appeals agreed with
Youngblood that he had been denied due process and overturned his
conviction. The state appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court
which reinstated Youngblood's conviction in 1988. This decision was
later recognized as an important precedent which limited the rights of
criminal defendants.

In 1998, Youngblood was paroled from prison, but was
reincarcerated the following year for failing to register his new address as
required by sex offender laws. However, by this time, advances in DNA
testing technology allowed DNA tests to be performed on the degraded semen
samples. In 2000, Youngblood was exonerated of the crime after such
tests were performed. In 2001, the DNA profile obtained from the tests
was found to match a Texas inmate, Walter Cruise, who was subsequently
convicted of the crime. (IP)
(JD) (Arizona
v. Youngblood) (86)
(89)
[8/09]

Kern County, CA

Kniffens & McCuans

Convicted 1983

Scott and Brenda Kniffen and Alvin and Debbie McCuan were
convicted of child abuse and given centuries long sentences. There was no
physical evidence that any child abuse had occurred. Prosecutors promised
the children that testified against the four adults that if they lied they
would be reunited with their parents. The children recanted after they
realized the prosecutors did not intend to keep their promises. The
convictions of the four defendants were reversed in 1996 and they were
released after 14 years of imprisonment. (RT)
[7/05]

Kern County, CA

John Stoll

1984

John Stoll was convicted of 17 counts of child molestation
involving six children including his five-year-old son. Two of Stoll's
codefendants won their state appeal 15 years before he did. His own appeal
was denied in part because of a mistake his lawyer had made during the
trial—failing to introduce a psychologist's finding that Stoll showed none
of the telltale traits of a pedophile.

Of the six kids who had testified against Stoll then, five—now
grown— recanted at a hearing. Only his son Jed continued to insist that his
father had molested him, though under questioning he could give no details. Stoll's conviction was overturned after he served 20 years of a 40-year
sentence. His charges were dropped. (Justice:
Denied)
[6/05]

Kern County, CA

Bakersfield Seven

Convicted 1985

In August 1985 Ricky Lynn Pitts, Marcella Pitts, Wayne Dill,
Jr., Grace Dill, Wayne Forsythe, Colleen Forsythe, and Gina Miller were
convicted of 377 counts of child abuse and conspiracy. A total of 2,619
years of imprisonment was handed out to the defendants in sentences. All convictions were reversed in 1990 because the trial and closing
arguments were marred by prosecutorial misconduct that was unprecedented in
the Court's experience. By 1994, all of the child witnesses had recanted
and claimed their testimony was coerced. (Wash.
Post) (People
v. Pitts) [7/05]

Kern County, CA

Jeffrey Modahl

Convicted 1986

Jeffrey Modahl was convicted of sexually abusing his
9-year-old daughter. Modahl's daughter, Carla Jo, now alleges that two Kern
County sheriff's detectives tricked and forced her into testifying that her
father, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, and others molested her. Carla Jo
said two cousins molested her, but from there the investigation mushroomed
to wrongly include other family members. She told a reporter, “They took me
to lunch every day, they let me play with the computer and promised to take
me to Magic Mountain when I was done testifying. They called me their star
witness.” The conviction was eventually vacated, and the DA declined to
retry. Modahl served 15 years of a 48-year sentence. (JD#1) (JD#2)
(Website) (Rolling
Stone) [6/05]

Los Angeles County, CA

McMartin Preschool

1983 (Manhattan Beach)

In 1983, a mentally unbalanced woman named Judy Johnson
enrolled her two-year-old son, Matthew, in the McMartin Preschool. She
became obsessed with Matthew's rectal problems and began thinking they were
a result of sexual abuse. Soon Judy was making accusations against Ray
Buckey, 28, the only male who worked at the school and who was the grandson
of Virginia McMartin, 79, the school's founder. Matthew denied abuse
at first, but soon Judy was making more accusations against Ray based on
what Matthew allegedly said.Read More by Clicking Here

Los Angeles County, CA

Leonard McSherry

Mar 1988 (Long Beach)

Leonard McSherry was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of a
6-year-old girl. McSherry was a previously convicted sex offender with
several arrests for loitering. Police kept McSherry under tight scrutiny
and were predisposed to believe he was the assailant even though he did not
match descriptions of the assailant. Witnesses identified him anyway. DNA
testing identified the real assailant as an inmate serving a life sentence
for a 1997 assault. McSherry served 13 years of a 48 years to life
sentence. He was awarded $481,200 for his wrongful incarceration. (IP)
[6/05]

San Joaquin County, CA

Peter Rose

Nov 29, 1994 (Lodi)

Peter Rose was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl. For
three weeks, the victim maintained that she did not know who her assailant
was. Then after a three-hour taped interrogation, police told her she was
lying and threatened to dismiss the case if she did not identify her
assailant. Family members who disliked Rose, who was their neighbor,
pressured her into identifying him. Rose's blood type did not match the
semen on the victim's underwear, but the semen sample was deemed too small
to conclusively rule him out. Rose served 9 years of a 27-year sentence
before DNA testing exonerated him in 2004. In 2005, Rose was awarded
$328,200 for the 3282 days that he was wrongfully imprisoned. In 2007, Rose
was awarded an additional $1 million combined from the local, county, and
state governments. (IP)
[7/05]

Dade County, FL

Richard McKinley

Jan 1983 (Homestead)

Richard McKinley was convicted of raping an eleven-year-old
girl. Prosecutors told the jury that recovered semen matched his blood
type. A police officer testified that he saw McKinley on top of the victim
with his pants down. DNA tests later showed that semen and hair evidence
could not have come from McKinley. McKinley was reportedly being released
after serving more than 20 years of imprisonment. (PC)
[10/05]

Hillsborough County, FL

Alan Crotzer

July 8, 1981 (Tampa)

Alan Crotzer and his alleged accomplices were convicted of
robbing a Tampa family at gunpoint and of kidnapping and raping a
38-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter. A victim picked Crotzer out
of a photo lineup. An alleged accomplice said Crotzer was innocent. In
2006, after 24 years of imprisonment, Crotzer was freed. DNA tests showed
he was innocent. (AP News)
(IP) (JD)
[9/06]

Pinellas County, FL

Raymond Baugh

Jan 13, 2002

Raymond Andrew Baugh was convicted in 2002 of the capital
sexual battery of a 7-year-old girl, identified as C. P. Baugh lived with
Rachel, the girl's mother. C. P. said he molested her behind a locked
bedroom door. She subsequently told investigators that Baugh had molested
her 12 previous times. There was no physical evidence supporting the
molestation. A month later, C. P. told her mother that she had lied. She
said she was mad at Baugh and wanted to get him in trouble, but not too much
trouble. She claimed she initially maintained her story about Baugh because
she was afraid of what her mother might do if she found out that she, C. P.,
had lied. At trial, C. P. testified there was never any molestation. However, the prosecution presented the girl's previous statements that she
had given. Baugh was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The 2nd
District Court of Appeal subsequently upheld Baugh's conviction, based on
prosecution claims that the girl's original accusation was more believable
than her recantation. However, in 2007 the Florida Supreme Court quashed
Baugh's conviction on the grounds that such claims were simply inadequate to
support a conviction. (SP
Times) (03)
(07) [10/08]

Whitfield County, GA

Wayne Cservak

Convicted 1997 (Dalton)

Wayne Cservak was convicted of molesting his girlfriend's
13-year-old-son. The boy testified that Cservak had molested him night
after night for almost two weeks. He said the sexual assaults happened
regularly between 3 and 4 a.m. as he slept on the living room sofa. One juror, Jim Thomas, thought the boy's testimony seemed contrived. The boy stated he was sleeping on the sofa because he thought there were
ghosts in his room. Then he said he was in the living room because
his mother had rented out his room for a week to a cousin. Testimony
revealed that investigators had already caught the boy in one lie. The
boy's attitude also gave Thomas pause. When asked why he didn't
immediately report the allegations, the boy wisecracked, “Go figure.” In contrast to the boy's testimony, Thomas felt that Cservak's testimony was
real and believable.

However, despite believing Cservak innocent, Thomas was
eventually browbeaten into convicting him after eight grueling hours of jury
deliberation. Thomas spoke at Cservak's sentencing hearing and his
testimony helped convince the judge to give Cservak only 10 years out of a
possible 100-year sentence. Then Thomas spent thousands of dollars
hiring an attorney to appeal Cservak's case. During the appeal
process, the boy recanted his story and told prosecutors that he had lied. Apparently, the boy's mother and Cservak were talking about marrying and the
boy did not like that idea. Cservak was incarcerated for close to a
year. (Justice:
Denied)
[10/08]

Cook County, IL

Ronnie Bullock

Mar 18, 1983

Ronnie Bullock was convicted of raping a nine-year-old girl. Bullock was identified by the victim and lived in the area where the rape
occurred. DNA tests exonerated him in 1994. (IP)
(CWC)
(CBJ)
[9/06]

Kenton County, KY

Timothy Smith

Charged 2000 (Covington)

Timothy Smith was convicted of sodomy after his teenage
daughter, Katie, claimed repressed memories of abuse. His other daughters
had denied such abuse. In 2006, his conviction was overturned because of
failure of his counsel to challenge the prosecution expert who backed up
Katie's story. The expert had obtained a doctorate in an unaccredited
online school. Katie Smith died in 2005 after attacking Sarah Brady, who
was 9-months pregnant, with a knife. Brady managed to grab the knife and
turned it on Smith. Police concluded Brady acted in self-defense. (AP
News) [9/06]

Caddo Parish, LA

Calvin Willis

June 1981 (Shreveport)

Calvin Willis was convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl and
sentenced to life without parole. Willis was convicted because he is a type
O secretor as is a large percentage of the male population and because he
wears a cowboy hat as did the rapist. The assailant left behind a pair of
size 40 boxers, but Willis only wears a size 30. DNA tests exonerated
Willis in 2003. (IP)
(TruthInJustice) (GQ)
[10/05]

E. Baton Rouge Parish, LA

Gene Bibbins

June 25, 1986

Gene Bibbins was convicted of raping 13-year-old Kenya Canty. The victim initially described her assailant as wearing jeans and having
long curly hair. Bibbins was arrested less than an hour after the attack. He was wearing gray shorts and had short, cropped hair. The victim was
assaulted in her apartment and the assailant took her radio when he left. Bibbins was in possession of the radio, and said he found it as he exited
his apartment building. He lived in a different building than the victim
but it was in the same apartment complex. DNA tests exonerated Bibbins in
2003. In 2006, Bibbins became the first person in Louisiana to be awarded
state compensation for wrongful imprisonment. He was awarded $150,000. However, as of this writing, there is no money in the compensation fund to
pay him. (IP) (Justice:
Denied) (Bibbins
v. City) [10/05]

Baltimore City, MD

Kenneth Barnes

1996

Kenneth Barnes was charged with sexual assault after the
8-year-old sister of his girlfriend claimed he had raped her. In 1998,
prior to trial, Barnes' mother (and court-appointed guardian) met with his
attorney, Warren Brown. Brown explained a prosecution offered plea
agreement in which Barnes did not have to admit guilt for which he would
receive no jail time, only probation. It seemed like a good deal so
Barnes took the plea. However, the defense attorney never explained
that Barnes would be branded a sex offender for life and have his name,
picture, and address placed on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry.

In 2005, Barnes, who is mentally ill, was given a suspended
sentenced for being days late in failing to register a change of address. Months later he was jailed for a year and a half for maintaining a separate
address. In 2007, Lydia Fitzsimmons, the owner of a Tropicool Italian
ice stand on Falls Road in Roland Park, found that Barnes lingered near her
business before and after ordering an ice and then sat in his car watching
customers. Many of the customers were children. Barnes may have
been watching the young mothers, though no one really knows. He denies
having a prurient interest in children. After being told by a customer
that Barnes was on the sex-offender registry, Fitzsimmons called the police. Since watching customers was not a crime, police could not do anything, but
Fitzsimmons wrote a letter to Barnes' parole board asking them to
incarcerate him. Parole officials complied on the grounds that Barnes
was in a “pre-contemplative state of re-offending.”

Later that year, the girl who made the rape allegation against
Barnes was located and she admitted Barnes did not rape her. The girl,
named Marian, then age 20, said she accused Barnes because she was jealous
of her older sister's closeness to him and wanted to break them up. Those who support Barnes are seeking to get his conviction overturned so
that it cannot be used as an excuse to incarcerate him at will for alleged
non-crimes. (City
Paper) (2)
(3) (4)
[12/09]

Berkshire County, MA

Bernard Baran

Arrested 1984

Bernard Baran, a gay 19-year-old, was an aide at Pittsfield's
Early Childhood Development Center and was caught in the wave of false abuse
allegations that swept the nation in the early 1980s. In 2006 his
conviction was overturned and charges against him were dropped in 2009. (www.freebaran.org) (JD)
[3/05]

Berkshire County, MA

Robert Halsey

1993 (Lanesborough)

Robert Halsey, a school bus driver, was convicted of sexual
assaulting children because of the testimony of the children. After
extensive interrogation by counselors, the children said Halsey detoured
their school bus on the way to school to a nearby lake and engaged in wild
and bizarre activities with them that included things that could not
possibly be true or showed an ignorance of human anatomy. Such detours
allegedly occurred numerous times over the course of two years. No record
exists of Halsey ever being late on his bus schedule. When testifying, the
children did not seem frightened or upset, only well rehearsed. Sometimes
they seemed to forget what was apparently rehearsed and ended up speaking
about alleged events in a nonsensical context. (CrimeMagazine)
[1/07]

Middlesex County, MA

Fells Acres Day School

1984 (Malden)

School officials Gerald Amirault, his mother Violet, and his
sister Cheryl got caught up in snowballing sex abuse allegations and
hysteria and were eventually accused of abusing more than 40 children. Children apparently were led into creating abuse stories after being
badgered many times by investigating case workers (and some parents) looking
for abuse. Many child witnesses unsaid on cross-examination what they had
said on direct examination. No corroborating evidence was ever found. The
school's insurance company paid more than $20 million to 16 families. The
three defendants were convicted and their convictions were never permanently
overturned. The longest serving defendant, Gerald Amirault, was paroled in
April 2004. Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, which had never taken
such a stand, called the case a “travesty of justice.” (American
Justice) (Website)
[5/05]

Middlesex County, MA

Ray & Shirley Souza

Tried in 1993 (Lowell)

The adult daughter of Ray and Shirley Souza went to counseling
and was encouraged to read The Courage to Heal, a book about
recovering memories of incest. The book apparently teaches that if you are
unhappy or have problems coping with life, it must be because your parents
sexually abused you as a child even if you do not remember any abuse. To
heal yourself, you have to recover the memories of such abuse. This
daughter read the book and recovered alleged memories of abuse that occurred
when she was a child. She then spread the gospel of recovered memories to
her siblings, some of whom were using their parents, Ray and Shirley, to
baby-sit their children. Subsequently, the siblings “recovered” memories of
abuse and questioned their children repeatedly until the children remembered
being abused. Ray and Shirley were charged and opted for a judicial trial
rather than a jury trial. Judge Elizabeth Dolan, who presided over the
Fells Acres abuse case, heard the case. She convicted the Souzas and
sentenced them to 9 to 15 years in prison. Eventually the Souzas were
allowed to serve 9 years under house arrest. Author Mark Pendergrast
profiled them in the 1996 book Victims of Memory. (Justice:
Denied) [11/05]

Suffolk County, MA

Arthur O'Connell

Convicted 1935 (Boston)

Arthur O'Connell was convicted of a sexual attack on a
13-year-old girl. The conviction was based on the testimony of the victim
and her 13-year-old companion. A month after the conviction the companion
confessed that they had perjured themselves “just for fun.” O'Connell had
merely stopped to talk to the girls for a moment. O'Connell was released
after a month's imprisonment. (CIPM) (Not
Guilty) [10/05]

Suffolk County, MA

Marvin Mitchell

Sept 22, 1988

Marvin Mitchell was convicted of abducting an 11-year-old girl
from a Dorchester bus stop and raping her. The victim initially described
her assailant as clean-shaven and cross-eyed, but Mitchell was neither. DNA
tests exonerated Mitchell in 1997. (CIPM)
(IP) [10/05]

Suffolk County, MA

Guy Randolph

Dec 1990

Guy Randolph was convicted of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old
girl. The girl did not initially recognize Randolph as her assailant. However, a few minutes later, after talking to her aunt, she accused
Randolph. During a grand jury investigation, the girl described her
assailant in ways that did not match Randolph, including his clothing and
height. There was also no physical evidence connecting Randolph to the
assault.

At his lawyer's request, Randolph entered a Alford plea in
which he did not have to admit guilt in exchange for a time served sentence
of 4 months plus 10 years of probation. Randolph later failed to show
up for an alcohol counseling session, a condition of his probation. A
judge then incarcerated him for the remainder of the 10 years. Following Randolph's release, he had to register as a sex offender. In
2008, after prosecutors said the case against Randolph was so weak it should
not have been pursued, a judge exonerated Randolph of all charges and
declared him innocent. (Boston
Globe) [6/08]

Oakland County, MI

James Perry

Oct 2005 (Oak Park)

James Perry, a kindergarten teacher at Key Elementary School
in Oak Park, was convicted of sexually assaulting two boys, ages 4 and 5
based on the boys' testimony. The complaint began when the mother of
the 5-year-old complained her son had been “tea-bagged” – slang for oral
sex. She also said her son had been the victim of a similar assault in
Chicago. Under questioning, the 5-year-old identified Perry and said
he was only fondled, but said another boy, the 4-year-old, had been
“tea-bagged.” The 4-year-old initially denied being assaulted.

At trial, the boys claimed to have been pulled from a lunch
line and assaulted in an empty Special Education classroom during lunchtime. However, post-conviction interviews with school personnel indicate that the
classroom always contained students who do not go out for lunch, and at
least one teacher to watch over them.

Because of the discrepancies, which were reported in the
Detroit Free Press,
Perry's conviction was overturned and he was retried in Mar. 2008. The
trial resulted in a mistrial with 11 jurors favoring acquittal and one juror
holding out for a conviction. Charges against Perry were dropped in
Aug. 2008. (DFP
2008) [3/07]

Oakland County, MI

Gary Lee Morris

1992 - 93

Gary Lee Morris was convicted of sexually assaulting his
13-year-old granddaughter. Morris had evicted his daughter from a trailer
owned by his mother. His daughter had paid the rent for years but fell way
behind after she began hanging out with a drug-using boyfriend. Shortly
after her eviction, his daughter's daughter brought these charges against
Morris. Morris's granddaughter claimed he raped her, but a medical exam
showed that her hymen was still intact and that she was a virgin. Morris is
serving a 20 to 40 year sentence. (JD)
[9/05]

Hennepin County, MN

Edward & Karri LaBois

1984 (Minnetonka)

Edward and Karri LaBois operated a child day care in their
home and were accused in 1984 of abusing their four-year-old daughter. After learning of the accusation, they fled the state with their daughter. In 2003, an informant tipped off police that the couple was living in a Salt
Lake City suburb. The couple was arrested on Nov. 10, 2003. As a
four-year-old, the daughter testified on videotape that she was abused after
being asked leading questions. However, as a 19-year-old she remembered no
such abuse. Parents who sent their children to the LaBois's daycare
remember no allegations of abuse by their children. On Nov. 26, prosecutors
dropped charges. Allegations of child abuse were a fad in 1984, but were no
longer so in 2003. (AP
News) [12/05]

Chickasaw County, MS

Cameron Todd

1997

Cameron Todd, a police officer, arrested three adults and
three teenagers for setting fire to a trailer. One of them, a 13-year-old
girl accused him and others of raping her. Todd was charged with Capital
Rape (in 1997) and was linked in press hysteria as being one of the
ringleaders of a major child prostitution, drug, and pornography operation. The girl who made the initial accusation has since recanted. (MS
Justice) (Todd
v. State)
[3/05]

Franklin County, MO

Jerry Parker

Aug 10, 1989 (Gerald)

Jerry Lynn Parker was convicted of sexually molesting three
girls, K.B., age 10, H.R., age 11, and B.C., age 13. He was sentenced to
195 1/2 years of imprisonment. The girls said they were kidnapped at
gunpoint from a gazebo in Gerald City Park and forced to walk to a woman's
rest room about a block away where they were molested. The girls' story
contains numerous implausible or impossible details. A deputy indicated
that he did not believe the story. Police undertook no further action on
the girls' report until two weeks later when Parker became a suspect. At
trial, on cross examination, the Gerald Police Chief conceded his office
received over 50 leads and the names of three suspects regarding the alleged
assault but Parker was the only person ever questioned about it.Read More by Clicking Here

Yellowstone County, MT

Jimmy Ray Bromgard

Mar 20, 1987 (Billings)

Jimmy Ray Bromgard was convicted of raping an 8-year-old
girl. The victim said she was “60%, 65% sure” that Bromgard was her
assailant after seeing him in a lineup and said, “I am not too sure,” when
asked if he was her assailant at trial. Crime lab technician Arnold
Melnikoff testified that hairs found at scene matched Bromgard and that
there was only a 1 in 10,000 chance of them being from another person. DNA
tests exonerated Bromgard in 2002. (IP)
[10/05]

Churchill County, NV

Broam & Manning

Convicted 1990 (Fallon)

Jack Ray Broam, 38, and his co-worker, Jay Cee Manning, 37,
were convicted of sodomizing Broam's 9-year-old son, Neal. Both were
sentenced to life in prison. Neal testified that the two sexually assaulted
him as many as 50 times in one night. In 1998, the then 17-year-old Neal
told a judge that his mother, Broam's ex-wife, locked him up and starved him
until he was willing to falsely testify against the two. (Broam
v. Bogan) [10/05]

Essex County, NJ

Kelly Michaels

1984-85 (Maplewood)

Margaret Kelly Michaels was convicted in 1988 of 115 counts of
sexual abuse against 20 children and sentenced to 47 years in prison. After working seven months as a teacher at a Wee Care Day Nursery, her
troubles began on April 30, 1985 when when a four-year-old boy who was a
student of hers said, when a nurse put a thermometer in his rectum, “That's
what my teacher does to me at nap time at school.” When asked what he meant,
the boy replied, “Her takes my temperature.” That one comment led to a
criminal investigation and Michaels being charged with 131 counts of sexual
abuse against 20 children.

During Michaels' trial, the judge questioned the children in
his chambers while the jury watched on closed circuit TV. He played
ball with them and held them on his lap; sometimes he whispered in their
ears and asked them to whisper answers back to him. The children
alleged Michaels raped and assaulted them with knives, spoons, and Lego
blocks. They also contended she licked peanut butter off of the their
genitals, played a piano in the nude, and made them drink her urine. All of
this abuse allegedly occurred over the many months Michaels worked at Wee
Care and went unnoticed by other teachers, parents, or administrators.

Michaels' conviction was overturned on appeal in 1993. The
appeal judges singled out one witness's testimony as being inappropriate,
because she was used to tell the jury to believe the children, when it was
the jury's job to decide which witnesses to believe. The judges were also
critical about the initial interviews of the children, describing them as
coercive, highly suggestive, and inept. Michaels was subsequently freed on
bail, and after a year and a half prosecutors dropped charges against her.
(Famous
Trials) (Crime Magazine) (State
v. Michaels) [4/10]

Bronx County, NY

Bronx Five

1984

In 1984, five men were arrested and subsequently convicted for
sexually abusing 20 toddlers at three New York City funded day care centers
in the Bronx. All the convictions were overturned on appeal. Police
investigations used techniques on children to produce false testimony and
implanted memories. One defendant, Alberto Ramos, was convicted in 1984
after police used torture to extract a confession. He was cleared in 1992. He later filed a lawsuit and was awarded $5 million in 2003. In 1986, Rev.
Nathaniel O'Grady was also convicted of child abuse. At his trial, one of
the child witnesses apparently had not been coached enough and he identified
the judge as his abuser. O'Grady's conviction was overturned on appeal in
1996. Albert Algarin, Franklin Beauchamp, and Jesus Torres, were also
convicted of child abuse in 1986. Their convictions were overturned on
appeal. (Gauntlet)
(Religious
Tolerance) (FJDB) [11/07]

Brunswick County, NC

Sylvester Smith

Mar 1984

Sylvester Smith was convicted of raping Gloria Ogundeji and
Janell Smith, ages four and five. The victims were the daughter and niece
of the woman with whom Smith had been staying. The conviction was based on
the testimony of the girls. In 2004, the girls came forward and revealed
that their grandmother, Fannie Mae Davis, had pressured them into accusing
Smith in order to protect the actual perpetrator, their 9-year-old cousin. Smith was released, but in 2005, Gov. Mike Easley had the opportunity to
pardon Smith, but refused to. In 1984, he was the District Attorney who
prosecuted Smith, and apparently, it is hard for him to admit that he made a
mistake.

Chowan County, NC

Little Rascals Day Care

1989

During winter 1988-89, Edenton police attended a Satanic
Ritual Abuse (SRA) seminar. Shortly thereafter accusations of mass child
abuse began to surface involving the Little Rascals Day Care in Edenton. More than 90 children accused 20 adults including the mayor and the sheriff
with 429 instances of child sexual abuse. Seven adults were eventually
charged. Charges were dropped against three. Two were allowed to plead no
contest. Two, Bob Kelly and Dawn Wilson, were found guilty of multiple
charges of child sex abuse and given long sentences. The convictions were
overturned on appeal and new trials were ordered. The cases were finally
settled in 1999 when all charges were dropped against Kelly. (Religious
Tolerance) [7/05]

Forsyth County, NC

Joseph Abbitt

May 2, 1991

“Joseph Lamont Abbitt was wrongly convicted on June 22, 1995,
of two counts of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree burglary and
two counts of first-degree kidnapping in the 1991 sexual assaults of a
16-year-old girl and her 13-year-old sister in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina. Abbitt was convicted based on the eyewitness testimony of the two
girls, and he was sentenced to life in prison. In 2009 DNA testing
unavailable at the time of his trial excluded him as the girls' assailant. Abbitt filed a motion for a new trial based on the new forensic evidence. On September 2, 2009 Abbitt's conviction was vacated by a Forsyth Superior
Court judge and he was released later that day. Arrested in 1991, Abbitt
was jailed four years awaiting trial, and spent another 14 year in prison,
for a total of 18 years of incarceration. Abbitt was the seventh convicted
man in North Carolina exonerated by DNA evidence.” –
FJDB

Union County, NC

James Bernard Parker

May 1990 (Monroe)

James Bernard Parker was accused of molesting 19 children and
convicted of molesting four boys, ages 5 to 12. The alleged assaults
purportedly occurred near the Icemorlee Street Apartments in Monroe. Few
children initially told their parents. The stories came out only when school
counselors began asking questions. Parker was sentenced to 3 life terms
plus 60 years. No physical evidence linked him to the alleged crimes and he
was charged even though children told stories of being tied to trees and fed
poisoned ice cream. They also gave a wide range of descriptions of their
attacker. In 2002, an investigation begun by a UNC journalism student
brought forth 15 reported victims and witnesses who said the crimes never
happened or that Parker was not the attacker. The only three boys who
testified against Parker have since signed affidavits saying Parker did not
commit the crimes. In 2004, Parker, who maintains his innocence, was
coerced into pleading guilty to reduced sex crime charges in exchange for
release from imprisonment. (Article)

Wayne County, NC

Dwayne Dail

Sept 4, 1987

Dwayne Allen Dail was convicted in 1989 of entering a
Goldsboro home and raping a 12-year-old girl who lived there. The girl
initially described her assailant as having shoulder-length light brown hair
and a beard. Dail and others later testified that at the time of the attack
his hair was bleached and cut in a “Billy Idol” style, and that he was
incapable of growing anything more than patchy facial hair. Nevertheless,
the girl identified Dail as her assailant and an expert testified that hairs
found at the crime scene were microscopically consistent with those of
Dail. Dail reportedly turned down an offer to plead guilty in exchange for
three years of probation. A jury sentenced him to two life terms plus 15
years. In 2007, DNA tests proved that Dail was not the girl's assailant,
and he was released and pardoned. (IP)
(News-Argus)
[10/07]

Franklin County, OH

Robert McClendon

Apr 25, 1990 (Columbus)

Robert McClendon was convicted of raping his 10-year-old
daughter, Rahshea Knaff. Knaff reported that she was abducted from her
backyard by a man who tied a sock over her eyes. The man then took her
to a abandoned house nearby and raped her. Afterwards the man took her
to a convenience store and went inside, leaving her alone in the car. While he was inside, Knaff jumped from the car and ran home.

Knaff did not tell her mother about the assault until the next
day, when her mother noticed she was acting and walking strangely. According to her mother's testimony, Knaff identified her assailant as her
biological father, Robert McClendon. Knaff was taken to a hospital
which confirmed she had been assaulted. When asked who assaulted her,
she said, “I think it was my dad but I may be wrong because my eyes were
covered.” Testimony indicated that Knaff had only seen her father once
in her life before the assault.

McClendon was convicted due to his daughter's testimony and
due to the state's allegation that he had failed a polygraph test. Years later in 2008, DNA tests were performed which showed that another man
committed the assault. McClendon was subsequently exonerated. (IP)
(Columbus
Dispatch) [6/09]

Hamilton County, OH

James Love

Dec 1988 - Mar 1989

In Feb. 1996, 18-year-old Sarah Jane Adams filed a police
report, accusing James F. Love of orally raping her six, seven, eight years
earlier. After being charged with five rapes, Love filed a notice of
alibi, stating that he was out of the United States during a large portion
of the time period mentioned in his indictment. His lawyers requested
more specific dates and times of the alleged rapes, but the prosecutor
repeatedly denied that any dates were available.

At Love's trial in June 1996, Adams testified that the first
rape occurred “the week after Christmas 1988.” She testified next
three rapes occurred “at least once a month each month after the first
time.” Which would have been January, February, and March 1989. Regarding the fifth rape she testified, “I can't remember when the last time
was.” Love told his attorneys he was in Mexico during the time period
Adams said she was raped. He obtained his mother's telephone records,
which showed his mother had received collect calls from Mexico in late 1988
and early 1989. The prosecutor argued that there was no proof the
collect calls to Love's mother had been made by Love. The jury
convicted Love on four of the five rape charges. Love was sentenced to
four consecutive life sentences. Love will be eligible for parole in
2036 when he is 85-years-old.

Since Love's conviction, he has assembled abundant evidence
proving that he was in Mexico, before, during, and after the period in which
the alleged rapes occurred. In Nov. 2006, Love's conviction was
overturned. Love has written numerous articles on wrongfully convicted
persons. Many of those articles are posted on the
Innocent Inmates of Ohio
website. (Justice:
Denied)
[9/07]

Lorain County, OH

Smith & Allen

1993

Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen were convicted of child abuse. Smith, a Head Start school bus driver allegedly drove students to Allen's
house where the students were molested. Smith, a white woman, and Allen, a
dark complexioned black, were an unlikely pair and denied ever having met
each other. The two were convicted on the testimony of child witnesses
whose testimony changed over time, and on the testimony of adults who were
facing unrelated criminal charges. School attendance and bus records show
the crimes to be impossible. Smith was sentenced to 30 to 90 years in
prison and ordered to pay the costs of prosecution. Allen was sentenced to
five consecutive life terms. No physical evidence existed that any child
was molested. (Crime
Magazine) (JD)
[2/07]

Montgomery County, OH

Aldridge & Wilcox

Convicted 1985

Robert Aldridge and Jennifer Wilcox were convicted of child
abuse. After an investigation by Ohio Observer editor Martin Yant, it was
discovered that exculpatory evidence was not turned over to the pair's
defense attorneys at the time of their trial. This included medical reports
that none of the children allegedly molested showed any signs of sexual
abuse. In addition Yant obtained recantations by three of the six child
witnesses who said they were coerced into giving false testimony against the
two. The witnesses, John, Jason, and Justin Chronopoulos, said they did not
even know who Aldridge and Wilcox were until the two were pointed out to
them in the courtroom. Subsequent to the investigation, Aldridge's and
Wilcox's convictions were vacated in 1996 after they served 11 years of
imprisonment. (Ohio
Observer) [9/08]

Summit County, OH

Jimmy Williams

1990

Jimmy “Spunk” Williams was convicted of the rape of a
12-year-old girl. An attorney, appointed to represent him at a parole
hearing in Dec. 2000, set up a meeting with the father of the victim. Three
months later the victim recanted her identification of Williams. The victim
originally claimed she was raped after her parents confronted her about
sucker marks, which were on her neck. The victim and a girlfriend testified
they had been experimenting with sexual activity, and the girlfriend, who
was also 12, had made the sucker marks. At trial, doctors could not say
that the victim was raped. They could only say the victim was not a
virgin. The victim apparently still maintained she had been raped, but
stated in court that she did not see her assailant's face. Williams was
released in 2001 and awarded $750,000 by the state of Ohio in 2005. (Plain
Dealer)
(Vindicator) (AP
News) [9/07]

Tulsa County, OK

Timothy Durham

May 31, 1991

Timothy Durham was convicted of raping an 11 year-old girl,
Molly M., and robbing her house. Durham had 11 alibi witnesses who placed
him at a skeet shooting competition in Dallas, TX at the time of the attack,
but he was convicted anyway and sentenced to over 3,100 years imprisonment. His trial featured a dubious forensic analyst who implied Durham's hair
matched hair left by the attacker. DNA tests exonerated him in 1997. (IP)
[10/05]

Deschutes County, OR

Robert Hernandez

2008

Robert Hernandez was convicted in 2009 of child abuse charges
against a 6-year-old girl and sentenced to 31 years in prison. Hernandez lived with his girlfriend Tamara Denetclaw. The alleged
victim was Denetclaw's cousin whom the couple had been raising since the
child was 2. The couple raised the child because her mother lived on
the streets and couldn't take care of her. The mother was also legally
married to a registered sex offender and there are two registered sex
offenders on her side of the family. When the child was 6 the mother
decided she wanted her back. Since Hernandez and Denetclaw did not
have custody, they had to comply. Many weeks later the mother brought
back the child back saying she couldn't take care of her.

At an interview at the Kids Center, a child abuse
organization, the child reportedly gave a taped statement that she was
abused. The Center sent the child home with Hernandez. They
later claimed they did not know what else to do. The Center also told
the child's mother what was said, but never mentioned Hernandez. They
later claimed that they did not tell her Hernandez was the abuser because
they were afraid the mother would beat Hernandez up.

The Kids Center told the mother they taped a medical
evaluation of her child. They had her sign a paper saying they would
not use their child's statement for teaching purposes and that the reason
they taped her child was so that her child would not have to testify in
court. However, at Hernandez's trial, the Kids Center claimed that
they did not tape the child; that it is not their policy to tape medical
evaluations; and that they took notes. But when asked to see the
notes, they said they did not keep them; they shredded them. The child
testified for two days, but never mentioned Hernandez.

The medical examiner said he could not diagnose or confirm any
abuse. Hernandez gave a confession to the alleged charges which he
contends was coerced. A psychologist testified that Hernandez tested
in the 95 percentile of being a person who says what people want to hear. The psychologist was the only trial witness the defense was allowed to call. The District Attorney, Mike Dugan, was one of the founders of the Kids
Center. Dugan was voted out of office in 2010 and the new DA fired the
original prosecutor in the case. (Source: Relative of Hernandez)
[2/11]

Yamhill County, OR

Pamela Sue Reser

1998 (McMinnville)

Pamela Sue Reser was convicted of raping her four small
children and sentenced to 116 years in jail. Her children alleged that she
forced them to have sex with her, each other, and her boyfriends. Apparently, their foster mother put them up to this, because they all later
recanted. Reser was incarcerated for more than three years before release.
(Justice:
Denied) [7/05]

Lehigh County, PA

Felito Mendoza

Feb 25, 1992 (Allentown)

Felito Mendoza was convicted of child molestation. His common
law wife, Mercedes, had disciplined her child, which led to physical abuse
charges against Felito. Their children were taken away. Later he was
charged with sexual abuse after a case worker got a mistranslation of a
Spanish word a child used and after one child tested positive for gonorrhea,
even though neither Felito or Mercedes tested positive. Mendoza suspects
the child was assaulted by Mercedes brother, now in a psychiatric hospital,
who had formerly lived in the house with the children and had sexually
assaulted Mercedes and her sisters. In addition, the children were
pressured and bribed by prosecutors to testify. Defense witnesses,
particularly Mercedes were pressured into not testifying. (Justice:
Denied) [6/05]

Dallas County, TX

James Waller

Nov 2, 1982

James Waller was convicted of raping a 12-year-old boy,
identified as Jay S. Jay initially described his assailant as a black man,
5 foot 8 inches tall and weighing 150 lbs. He said a red bandanna concealed
his assailant's face. Later that day at a 7-Eleven, Jay heard his
assailant's voice, and turned to see Waller. Waller is nearly 6 foot 4
inches tall and was heavy. Waller's family was the only black family living
in Jay's apartment complex. At trial, Waller presented witnesses stating he
was home at the time of the assault, but Waller was convicted anyway. Waller was paroled in 1993. DNA tests exonerated him of the crime in 2007,
making him the 12th person in Dallas County to be exonerated by DNA tests.
(NY Times) (IP)
[2/07]

Harris County, TX

Carlos Coy

Sept 1, 2001

Carlos Coy, a rapper whose stage name is South Park Mexican,
was convicted of the sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl. The girl had
been invited over to Coy's house by his 6-year-old daughter. She
claimed Coy touched her inappropriately during a supposed sleepover while a
Scooby Doo tape was playing on the VCR and Coy's daughter had fallen asleep
next to her. No physical evidence corroborated her accusation. During initial questioning at trial, the girl said she wasn't sure what had
happened and thought it could have been a dream. She also said she did
not remember the incident clearly. Given the girl's youth, she was
highly susceptible to persuasion by relatives who may have wanted to target
Coy because of his money and fame. Coy has at least six music albums
with collective sales topping 1.5 million. The trial judge sentenced
Coy to 45 years in prison. Three months after Coy's sentencing the
girl's family filed a civil suit against him seeking unspecified damages.
(HC)
(SPM's
Music Videos) [10/09]

Harris County, TX

Ricardo Rachell

Oct 20, 2002

Ricardo Rachell was convicted of sexually assaulting an
8-year-old boy. The boy, lured by a bike-riding stranger promising him
$10 for help cleaning up trash, was sexually assaulted in a vacant home
south of downtown Houston. The next day, the boy's mother saw Rachell
riding a bike on Cullen Blvd. She drove her son to the location and
the boy subsequently identified Rachell as his assailant. Testimony
from the boy and one of his friends who saw the assailant served as the core
of the case against Rachell.

During deliberations, jurors asked about the boys' testimony,
sending written questions to the judge. At least two wanted to know
how the mother asked her son to identify his assailant and how the boy
responded to her question. The boy appeared to know Rachell not as a
stranger, but from seeing him around his neighborhood as a man whose facial
deformity, from of a shotgun blast years before, made him drool and appear
“scary-looking.” The two boys never mentioned that their assailant had
an obvious facial deformity.

After Rachell was incarcerated, similar assaults occurred on
at least three young boys lured by a man who promised them money in exchange
for performing a task. Rachell's defense attorneys said they were
never told that biological evidence existed in the case, but were later made
aware of it. DNA tests of this evidence confirmed Rachell's innocence
in 2008, leading to his release after more than 5 years of imprisonment. Rachell became blind from glaucoma during his incarceration. He was
officially cleared in 2009. (HC#1)
(HC#2)
[5/09]

Hays County, TX

Thomas Harris

Aug 1996

Thomas Harris was accused and convicted of molesting his
youngest daughter. His wife acknowledged to two witnesses that the
accusation was not true. The alleged victim also acknowledged that
accusation was not true and said Susan Miller (the divorce attorney of
Harris's wife) and Trine Rodriquez told her to lie. Harris has a long but
interesting story including details such as his wife poisoning his food. (Justice:
Denied) [6/05]

Hutchinson County, TX

Ronnie Mark Gariepy

Oct 5, 1991

Ronnie Mark Gariepy pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his
13-year-old stepdaughter after authorities persuaded him that he might have
committed the crime during an alcoholic blackout. The alleged victim
recanted her allegation 18 months after he was sentenced to 12 years in
prison. After Gariepy was paroled in 1999, Gov. George W. Bush granted him
a pardon based on innocence. (CWC)
[7/05]

Lubbock County, TX

Jay Van Story

Convicted 1989

Jay Van Story was convicted of the aggravated sexual
harassment of his 7-year-old cousin. He allegedly had lain naked on top of
her. Van Story was sentenced to 15 years to life imprisonment. In 2000,
the cousin had gotten married and become a Christian. She wrote to Van
Story asking for his forgiveness. The real abuser had originally forced her
into naming Van Story. When she told the truth to Children's Protective
Services, they told her she would never see her mother unless she cooperated
in the prosecution of Van Story. Van Story is a prison graphics worker who
designed the Texas state license plate and is still imprisoned in 2005. (JD#1) (JD#2)
(II) [9/05]

Montgomery County, TX

Arthur Mumphrey

Feb 28, 1986 (Dobbin)

Arthur Mumphrey was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl. He was convicted because of the testimony of his co-defendant, Steve Thomas,
who testified in exchange for a reduced sentence. The victim claimed two
men had raped her, but could not identify Mumphrey as one of them. DNA
tests later implicated Thomas and an unknown male as the rapists. Mumphrey
was released and pardoned in 2006 after 18 years of imprisonment. Because
of Texas law, the pardon does not erase his rape conviction. Mumphrey is
eligible for about $500,000 in compensation under Texas law. (IP)
(JD)
[12/06]

Tarrant County, TX

John Michael Harvey

1989

John Michael Harvey was convicted of molesting the 3-year-old
daughter of his live-in girlfriend. The victim, identified as S. R. and now
17, denied that Harvey was her molester and only named him under pressure
from the prosecutor, Lisa Mullen. In a sworn statement the victim said, “I
am also very angry with the prosecutor. I feel that she took advantage of
me because she wanted to win her case.” [10/05]

Chelan County, WA

Wenatchee 43

Convicted 1994-95

Between 1992 and 1995, 43 adults, mostly women, were arrested
on 29,726 charges of child abuse. The alleged abuse involved 60 children
and resulted in 22 convictions. All of the alleged abuse occurred in the
city of Wenatchee (in Chelan County) and East Wenatchee (in Douglas
County). The allegations started when two children under the foster care of
detective Robert Perez began accusing their parents. (One soon ran away
from Perez and recanted.) Many defendants were coerced into confessing by
the same detective. The last imprisoned defendant was released in Dec.
2000. To date, more than $7 million in civil settlements have been awarded
to the defendants. (RT)
(Wash. Times)
[7/05]

Clark County, WA

Ross Sorrels

Convicted 1995

Ross Sorrels was convicted of raping a five-year-old girl. His 1995 trial attracted wide publicity because he was the former director
of a group for troubled teenagers, America For Youth Foundation. The actual
rapist was convicted in 2002 of raping both the five-year old and her two
sisters while living with the girl's mother. (Seattle
Times) [10/05]

Clark County, WA

Daniel L. Sanders

June 1997

Daniel L. Sanders was convicted of child molestation. In late
May and early June of 1997, Sanders stayed with his former girlfriend, Patti
Kelley, to spend time with his 14-year-old son, Gabe. Kelley also lived with
her three-year-old son, Tyler, who was not Sanders' child. After Kelley
accused Sanders of molesting Tyler, Sanders said she was retaliating against
him for threatening to call Child Protective Services after Tyler had gotten
got into Kelley's stash of methamphetamine. Kelley had told police that
Sanders had masturbated and ejaculated in Tyler's face. During a preliminary
hearing, Tyler stated, “My mom told me to say these things about [Sanders],”
and he would not, or could not, identify Sanders in the courtroom. The judge
found Tyler incompetent to testify.Read More by Clicking Here

Milwaukee County, WI

David Sanders

Convicted 2008 (Milwaukee)

David Sanders, a Franciscan Brother and schoolteacher, was
convicted in 2008 of molesting an altar boy more than 20 years earlier. The victim who knew his molester as “Brother David,” picked Sanders out of a
photo array and remembered him as the man who taught him First Communion
rites at St. Vincent's parish. The victim also said he visited his
molester in Delaware. Sanders 1980s address was in the address book of
the victim's family. At trial Sanders' defense argued that Sanders had
never administered the victim's First Communion nor, as far as anyone could
prove, had ever been to Delaware. Sanders had worked at a number of
Milwaukee area parishes as a music teacher, but never at St. Vincent's.

Following Sanders' conviction, the victim's grandmother found
a letter written by a different “Brother David,” named David Nickerson,
which implicated that man in the assault. When confronted, Nickerson
admitted he molested the victim. Sanders was subsequently exonerated
after 5 months of imprisonment. Authorities were debating whether to
charge Nickerson, in part, because the victim is far from an ideal witness. In 2008 the victim was 30 years old and was himself in prison for molesting
a child. (WIP)
(MJS)
[11/08]

England (Stafford CC)

Roger Beardmore

1991-1993

Roger Beardmore was convicted in 1998 of pedophile rape after being accused
by an 11-year-old girl. At the time of the alleged offense, Beardmore
was living at a farmhouse 15 miles from Stoke-on-Trent. The girl told
her mother that between the ages of three and six she had been raped and
interfered with when visiting Beardmore's farm. Three years later the
girl admitted that she made the whole thing up to gain the attention of her
mother. She said, “I have put a man in prison for no reason.” The girl now says she never wants to see her mother again. She
expressed the wish to right a wrong which had been keeping her awake, crying
at night. Following the girl's admission, Beardmore's conviction was
quashed and he was released from prison. (Innocent)
[10/08]

Australia (QLD)

Frank Alan Button

Feb 17, 1999

Frank Alan Button was convicted of raping a retarded
13-year-old girl. The victim said she had been assaulted during a party at
her mother's home in Cherbourg. She identified Button, but her testimony
was confused and contradictory. Button's nephew, Lester Malone, claimed
Button had confessed to the rape while they were in a park shortly after
Button had been charged with the crime. However, Button went straight to
jail after being charged and the confession in the park couldn't have
occurred. Malone later withdrew his statement and claimed the investigating
detective had intimidated him and put words in his mouth. Following
Button's conviction, DNA tests were done which showed the assailant to be a
prisoner who was doing time for another rape. Button became the first
Australian convict to be exonerated of a crime due to DNA evidence. He was
released after serving 10 months of his 6 year sentence. (JTC)
(Police
Reform) [11/10]